+2
The second film by British filmmaker Steve McQueen, which is in many ways similar to the his first one (Hunger from 2008.). Again this is an excellent collaboration with Fassbender, again it is a film with strong dialogues, long takes and an atmosphere that fully conveys the emotional state of the characters.
Brandon is a New Yorker in the early 30's, he is financially stable, successful in his work and addicted to sex. He dosn't choose time, place or person to fulfill his needs and shame because of that devours him. He lives alone and he hides his problem in his solitude. While in company he leaves the opposite impression so when huge amount of pornography was found on his computer at work, his boss didn't even consider the possibility that that was really his.
Privacy, which he loves because of his problem, gets interrupted by his sisters sudden arrival with goal to stay with him, at least temporary, since after breakup with her boyfriend she has no other place to go. His relationship with her is presented to us even before her arrival in the form of Brendons persistent refusal to answer the phone because of which her arrival ended up as sudden for him. This relationship dosn't looking to move in positive direction even after her arrival. But on the other hand that invasion on Brendons privacy caused the need for change.
Shame is stylistically almost identical to Hunger. It's slow and monotonous as the backbone of the film are long shots of the characters faces with a goal to present the emotional state of characters and long shots of dialogues which are really ingenious. A big amount of viewers will probably find this movie extremely boring and those viewers who look for action and dynamics can freely ignore this film.
Michael Fassbender is great in this demanding role that fully carries the entire film, and Carey Mulligan, whose choice of roles is definitely showing hers increasing seriousness as an actress, deserves mention.
Although the topic is quite interesting and somewhat controversial, and the presentation of it is not bad, the overall feeling is far from special. The biggest objection is that the story produce very weak interest among viewers and after getting the point becomes boring. However Shame is an interesting piece of work with excellent acting and great dialogue scenes in just one take which is worth of seeing.
7/10